Article taken from the
Santa Barbara News Press
Published with permission
Gaviota
on endangered landscapes list
Environmentalists include it among nation's top ten
By MELINDA
BURNS
NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER
2/26/03
Scenic America, a national environmental group, named
the Gaviota coast one of the nation's 10 most threatened scenic landscapes.
The Gaviota coast appears on Scenic America's list of "Last Chance Landscapes," along with Highway 99 through the San Joaquin Valley, and marshes, creeks, rivers, and historic places in eight other states.
"Unfortunately, much of the natural beauty and distinctive character of America's cities, towns and natural areas is disappearing in a sea of uncontrolled, cookie-cutter residential development and shopping malls," said Meg Maguire, the Scenic America president. "Haphazard growth gobbles up open space at a frightening pace. The threats posed to this year's landscapes are an illustration of what's happening to communities all over America, every day of the year."
The Gaviota coast -- 76 miles of shoreline in Santa Barbara County from Coal Oil Point to Point Sal -- is under study for potential inclusion in the national park system. The National Park Service is expected to release its study for public review in mid-April. The Gaviota Coast Conservancy, a local preservationist group, applied to Scenic America for the "last chance" designation. The coast itself is the longest remaining stretch of undeveloped shoreline in Southern California.
In recent years, the Bacara resort was built on the coast near Goleta's urban boundary line, and a developer is proposing to build 55 homes just west of the Bacara. Meanwhile, four landowners with large holdings on the Gaviota coast are suing the county to increase their development potential.
Scenic America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving natural beauty and distinctive community character. It provides technical assistance on scenic highways, billboard and sign control, locations for telecommunications towers, and transportation improvements.
Also on this year's "last chance" list are the historic towns of Concord, Lexington, Lincoln and Bedford, Mass.; the Creole Nature Trail National Scenic Byway in Louisiana; the Glen Mary Plantation Historic Site in Georgia; the Schuylkill Marsh, Philadelphia, Pa.; the Lower Markers Creek Rural Landscape in North Carolina; the Jordan River Conservation Corridor in Utah; the Middle Potomac Scenic Corridor in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and the Blue Ridge Parkway Viewshed in Roanoke County, W. Va.